Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Username: Hunger
Password: Games
To introduce themselves to the story, I will first have the students read the synopsis on the back of the book to themselves. Afterwards, I will use mindmeister.com on the Smartboard and, as a class, the students and I will organize the information we found in the summary on the book into three categories: Who (Katniss, the main character), What (The Hunger Games competition), and Where (in Panem, futuristic America). Using the information, I will create another braintstorming chart and have the students make and list predictions about the story and what will take place. I will use this exercise to help the students better familiarize themselves with the characters, setting, and events of this story so that when they can begin reading it, they will already be familiar with the information presented to them and not confused or lost. The students will also be able to practice predicting as well as analyze some of the story's context.
2.(Connections, Comprehension)
RL.8.9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
To help the students relate and connect the story to real life, every day prior to the lesson I will have Writeboard up on my Smartboard with a question connecting real life things, issues, and/or events to parts of the story. As an anticipation activity, since the book's summary mentions that the games are shown on live television, the class could use the question presented on the writeboard link above to initiate a classroom discussion. For individual assessment, the students could first each write a response for homework the day before and discuss their responses in the following class discussion. This discussion would center around how reality shows affect the players in the show and how the audience lives off of those emotions. I would then move onto the book summary and have it reread out loud for the class. I will ask the the students how they think this airing of the Hunger Games would affect the role of the main character, Katniss, throughout the book, which would lead to another class discussion. The students would use what they discussed about reality shows to make predictions based on the story and use their thoughts from the discussion to back up their predictions.
3. (Phonics, Fluency)
L.8.4 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word
A vocabulary activity the students could do as a small collaborative assignment would be a Root Word/Prefix/Suffix Voicethread. Beforehand, I as the teacher, would create a list of words that are found frequently throughout The Hunger Games. Each student would select a challenging word from the list that they would not know initially. They would focus on the prefixes, suffixes, and/or root words in that word and use the meanings of those root words to come up with the meaning of the whole word. Afterwards, they would create a voicethread explaining to their fellow students what that word means based on the meanings of the specific letter combinations in it. They could challenge their classmates to come up with three or more words with one or more of those root words and each student would have to respond to it with words that they have found with the same root words within them. The students could use this to better familiarize themselves with the vocabulary in the story, so that by the time they read it, they are able to effectively read the words with a better understanding of their role in the sentence and story. It will also help them practice their fluency in saying the word. Students in this age group should be introduced to root words beforehand.
B - Building Knowledge
1. (Vocabulary)
L.8.4.Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Word Boxes
Throughout the story, whenever students come across a word that they are unfamiliar with, they will have the opportunity to write it on a chart created by Kidspiration.com. As shown, each word will be written in a small bubble within a box where they will have the opportunity to fill it in with the definition, similar words, and a sentence to exemplify the word's meaning. Students who are visual learners can fill in the boxes with a small picture as well to illustrate the meaning of the word. They will be required to find six words per chapter and, at the end of the reading unit, will combine all the words the class selected into one, class dictionary for use in future reading and/or writing units. This activity helps students to discover the meaning of a word they do not understand, as well as apply it into practice and compare it with words they already know. Ultimately, it helps them expand and develop their vocabulary skills as well as practice identifying the meanings of words through similar words and the context in which they are written.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Theme Timelines
Username: HungerGames
Password: Katniss
The back of the book specifically mentions two themes: life vs. love and survival vs. humanity. While reading the book, the students will write down notes based on events and occurrences where the themes are evident. These notes will later be recorded on a timeline which the students will individually make on timetoast.com based on the occurrences of the theme in the order that they are shown. The students can either record the notes on the dates they read them, or use the dates as chapters (for example I used November 1 as Chapter 1). They will use the timelines to discuss the evidence in the story that they found and to come up with an overall idea of what the author is trying to show through the events and the issues in the story. The timelines will be useful for students, as they will help them apply their understanding of the idea of theme as well as practice identifying it throughout the various examples they write down. Also, by identifying the theme of the story, the students will be able to better connect with the characters of the story as well as how the theme affects them, understand the meanings and backgrounds of specific events that take place in the story, and eventually build a better comprehension of the story as a whole.
3. (Comprehension, Vocabulary)
RL.7.6 Craft and Structure
Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
Character Analysis
Throughout the story, there are numerous events in which the characters' personalities are displayed. The entire story of the Hunger Games revolves around the characters and their reactions to what takes place. Due to this, it is vitally important that the students get to know the characters just as much as the background and themes of the story. Using kidspiration, the students can create their own character analysis maps based on each significant person that they meet throughout the story. There are too many characters to create an individual map for, but by singling out the most important (Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch Effie, etc.) the students can see how their personalities affect the story as a whole. As they move through the story, the students can continue to add onto each character's map as they continue to get to know the character. They can also start with basic information that the story gives them, but as the story moves on, can become more in-depth about the characters. The maps break down the characters' personalities into individual sections so that the students can better relate to them. By creating character analysis maps, the students can get to know each character better as well as come to a better understanding of their actions and use the them to predict what they, the students, think will happen later on in the story.
As a final review over the Hunger Games before the unit exam, each student will write a specific question relating to the story. I will require the students to create questions that are NOT "yes or no" questions, but rather be questions that need explanations and details. The students will share their questions around the classroom and each student will need to answer five of their classmates' questions. The students will turn in their questions as well as the responses to them. I will assess them based on their abilities to have the students think about the story at a higher thinking level. As a final review, a quizlet from quizlet.com will be created, with questions formed from the students' questions and responses. i will have "share your answer here" as a the "answer" on the flash cards for discussion and review starters. The class as a whole will go over the questions during a period and will be given the username and password to use for their own individual studies at home. Through this review approach, students can use their ow questions and ideas to review over newly gained knowledge as well as practice creating higher level thinking questions to develop high level thinking in themselves and their classmates.
2. Hunger Games Photostory
RL.8.2 Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
As a final project, the students will each create a photostory that summarizes the story in The Hunger Games. Students will be required to list the plot of the story, as well as answer the following questions:
- What is the background of the story? Where is it and when does it take place?
- Who are all involved in the story? What happens to them?
- How is the plot of the story resolved... or is it resolved?
- What efforts do the characters attempt to get through the Hunger Games?
- How do the Hunger Games end? How does it affect the people involved?
- How will the next story, Catching Fire, possibly take place? List all predictions and ideas.
Students will not have to present their photostories to the entire class, however they will present them to each other in small groups of four or five and each person will assess the student presenting to see if they answered all the questions with enough information to show that they were able to understand the story. In the end, the students will either email or somehow give me their photostories as well as their classmates' assessments to see what they thought of the photostory. I will provide my own assessment of the story and add it to the average score of the group members' scores to give the student their final grade. This activity will help the student summarize the key points of the story as well as reflect on what they read and how each part of the story impacts one another. By providing guesses and predictions to what happens in the following book, students can begin to start thinking about the next book and what will take place in it.
3. (Connections, Fluency, Comprehension)
RL.8.10 Range of Reading and Level of Complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
After finishing The Hunger Games, the students will research and select another science fiction book whose background is similar to that of The Hunger Games. Depending on the students, this could either be done individually or in literature circles. The students will record the books they find on www.shelfari.com, where a class-wide bookshelf will be created and worked on for the duration of the school year. The students will read the books and, as they are developing their comprehensions of those books, they can connect the similarities of the ideas, themes, events, etc. in those books to the ones presented in The Hunger Games. This is something that can continue to be worked on throughout the school year and is not limited to just the Hunger Games reading unit or the one following it. It can help build on students' reading interests as well as introduce them to literature that they are not familiar with. Reading books similar to the Hunger Games can also help them work on their reading fluency and become more comfortable reading stories with settings different to that of the present American culture.
Assessment
Informal assessment will be the main way of how I will assess my students. The assessment will be based on:
1. Full participation from the students and their responses to the questions I present to them in class. How they discuss the topics in class will help me guide my questions and my assessment to see if the students are verbally understanding what I want them to understand.
2. The students' abilities to complete the work assigned to them. Most, if not all, the activities require students to actively work on and complete the assignments as part of their learning. First, they will be assessed by how well they have performed and used the knowledge they know from the story on these assignments. How their assignments are designed as well as the information they present on these activities will show to me how much they are learning from this unit. Second, I will assess their abilities to spend time wisely on the assignments (meaning that, even if they were done at home, the work is organized and detailed and clearly tells me that they have spent time on it).
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Published in 2008 by Scholastic Inc.
ABC Activities by LeeAnna Smith
Photo Source: http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac336/aurymh_07/hunger.jpg
A - Anticipation
1. (Comprehension)
W.8.9 Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Username: Hunger
Password: Games
To introduce themselves to the story, I will first have the students read the synopsis on the back of the book to themselves. Afterwards, I will use mindmeister.com on the Smartboard and, as a class, the students and I will organize the information we found in the summary on the book into three categories: Who (Katniss, the main character), What (The Hunger Games competition), and Where (in Panem, futuristic America). Using the information, I will create another braintstorming chart and have the students make and list predictions about the story and what will take place. I will use this exercise to help the students better familiarize themselves with the characters, setting, and events of this story so that when they can begin reading it, they will already be familiar with the information presented to them and not confused or lost. The students will also be able to practice predicting as well as analyze some of the story's context.
2.(Connections, Comprehension)
RL.8.9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
Writeboard Activity
Email: smithlee_0789@hotmail.com
Password: Games
To help the students relate and connect the story to real life, every day prior to the lesson I will have Writeboard up on my Smartboard with a question connecting real life things, issues, and/or events to parts of the story. As an anticipation activity, since the book's summary mentions that the games are shown on live television, the class could use the question presented on the writeboard link above to initiate a classroom discussion. For individual assessment, the students could first each write a response for homework the day before and discuss their responses in the following class discussion. This discussion would center around how reality shows affect the players in the show and how the audience lives off of those emotions. I would then move onto the book summary and have it reread out loud for the class. I will ask the the students how they think this airing of the Hunger Games would affect the role of the main character, Katniss, throughout the book, which would lead to another class discussion. The students would use what they discussed about reality shows to make predictions based on the story and use their thoughts from the discussion to back up their predictions.
3. (Phonics, Fluency)
L.8.4 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word
A vocabulary activity the students could do as a small collaborative assignment would be a Root Word/Prefix/Suffix Voicethread. Beforehand, I as the teacher, would create a list of words that are found frequently throughout The Hunger Games. Each student would select a challenging word from the list that they would not know initially. They would focus on the prefixes, suffixes, and/or root words in that word and use the meanings of those root words to come up with the meaning of the whole word. Afterwards, they would create a voicethread explaining to their fellow students what that word means based on the meanings of the specific letter combinations in it. They could challenge their classmates to come up with three or more words with one or more of those root words and each student would have to respond to it with words that they have found with the same root words within them. The students could use this to better familiarize themselves with the vocabulary in the story, so that by the time they read it, they are able to effectively read the words with a better understanding of their role in the sentence and story. It will also help them practice their fluency in saying the word. Students in this age group should be introduced to root words beforehand.
B - Building Knowledge
1. (Vocabulary)
L.8.4.Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Word Boxes
Throughout the story, whenever students come across a word that they are unfamiliar with, they will have the opportunity to write it on a chart created by Kidspiration.com. As shown, each word will be written in a small bubble within a box where they will have the opportunity to fill it in with the definition, similar words, and a sentence to exemplify the word's meaning. Students who are visual learners can fill in the boxes with a small picture as well to illustrate the meaning of the word. They will be required to find six words per chapter and, at the end of the reading unit, will combine all the words the class selected into one, class dictionary for use in future reading and/or writing units. This activity helps students to discover the meaning of a word they do not understand, as well as apply it into practice and compare it with words they already know. Ultimately, it helps them expand and develop their vocabulary skills as well as practice identifying the meanings of words through similar words and the context in which they are written.
2. (Comprehension)
RL.8.2 – Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Theme Timelines
Username: HungerGames
Password: Katniss
The back of the book specifically mentions two themes: life vs. love and survival vs. humanity. While reading the book, the students will write down notes based on events and occurrences where the themes are evident. These notes will later be recorded on a timeline which the students will individually make on timetoast.com based on the occurrences of the theme in the order that they are shown. The students can either record the notes on the dates they read them, or use the dates as chapters (for example I used November 1 as Chapter 1). They will use the timelines to discuss the evidence in the story that they found and to come up with an overall idea of what the author is trying to show through the events and the issues in the story. The timelines will be useful for students, as they will help them apply their understanding of the idea of theme as well as practice identifying it throughout the various examples they write down. Also, by identifying the theme of the story, the students will be able to better connect with the characters of the story as well as how the theme affects them, understand the meanings and backgrounds of specific events that take place in the story, and eventually build a better comprehension of the story as a whole.
3. (Comprehension, Vocabulary)
RL.7.6 Craft and Structure
Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
Character Analysis
Throughout the story, there are numerous events in which the characters' personalities are displayed. The entire story of the Hunger Games revolves around the characters and their reactions to what takes place. Due to this, it is vitally important that the students get to know the characters just as much as the background and themes of the story. Using kidspiration, the students can create their own character analysis maps based on each significant person that they meet throughout the story. There are too many characters to create an individual map for, but by singling out the most important (Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch Effie, etc.) the students can see how their personalities affect the story as a whole. As they move through the story, the students can continue to add onto each character's map as they continue to get to know the character. They can also start with basic information that the story gives them, but as the story moves on, can become more in-depth about the characters. The maps break down the characters' personalities into individual sections so that the students can better relate to them. By creating character analysis maps, the students can get to know each character better as well as come to a better understanding of their actions and use the them to predict what they, the students, think will happen later on in the story.
C - Consolidation
1. Hunger Games Review Quiz
RL.8.3 Key Ideas and Details
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Quizlet Hunger Games Questions
Username: KatnissE
Password: Peeta
As a final review over the Hunger Games before the unit exam, each student will write a specific question relating to the story. I will require the students to create questions that are NOT "yes or no" questions, but rather be questions that need explanations and details. The students will share their questions around the classroom and each student will need to answer five of their classmates' questions. The students will turn in their questions as well as the responses to them. I will assess them based on their abilities to have the students think about the story at a higher thinking level. As a final review, a quizlet from quizlet.com will be created, with questions formed from the students' questions and responses. i will have "share your answer here" as a the "answer" on the flash cards for discussion and review starters. The class as a whole will go over the questions during a period and will be given the username and password to use for their own individual studies at home. Through this review approach, students can use their ow questions and ideas to review over newly gained knowledge as well as practice creating higher level thinking questions to develop high level thinking in themselves and their classmates.
2. Hunger Games Photostory
RL.8.2 Key Ideas and Details
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
As a final project, the students will each create a photostory that summarizes the story in The Hunger Games. Students will be required to list the plot of the story, as well as answer the following questions:
- What is the background of the story? Where is it and when does it take place?
- Who are all involved in the story? What happens to them?
- How is the plot of the story resolved... or is it resolved?
- What efforts do the characters attempt to get through the Hunger Games?
- How do the Hunger Games end? How does it affect the people involved?
- How will the next story, Catching Fire, possibly take place? List all predictions and ideas.
Students will not have to present their photostories to the entire class, however they will present them to each other in small groups of four or five and each person will assess the student presenting to see if they answered all the questions with enough information to show that they were able to understand the story. In the end, the students will either email or somehow give me their photostories as well as their classmates' assessments to see what they thought of the photostory. I will provide my own assessment of the story and add it to the average score of the group members' scores to give the student their final grade. This activity will help the student summarize the key points of the story as well as reflect on what they read and how each part of the story impacts one another. By providing guesses and predictions to what happens in the following book, students can begin to start thinking about the next book and what will take place in it.
3. (Connections, Fluency, Comprehension)
RL.8.10 Range of Reading and Level of Complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Email: leeanna.smith@cuw.edu
Password: Games
After finishing The Hunger Games, the students will research and select another science fiction book whose background is similar to that of The Hunger Games. Depending on the students, this could either be done individually or in literature circles. The students will record the books they find on www.shelfari.com, where a class-wide bookshelf will be created and worked on for the duration of the school year. The students will read the books and, as they are developing their comprehensions of those books, they can connect the similarities of the ideas, themes, events, etc. in those books to the ones presented in The Hunger Games. This is something that can continue to be worked on throughout the school year and is not limited to just the Hunger Games reading unit or the one following it. It can help build on students' reading interests as well as introduce them to literature that they are not familiar with. Reading books similar to the Hunger Games can also help them work on their reading fluency and become more comfortable reading stories with settings different to that of the present American culture.
Assessment
Informal assessment will be the main way of how I will assess my students. The assessment will be based on:
1. Full participation from the students and their responses to the questions I present to them in class. How they discuss the topics in class will help me guide my questions and my assessment to see if the students are verbally understanding what I want them to understand.
2. The students' abilities to complete the work assigned to them. Most, if not all, the activities require students to actively work on and complete the assignments as part of their learning. First, they will be assessed by how well they have performed and used the knowledge they know from the story on these assignments. How their assignments are designed as well as the information they present on these activities will show to me how much they are learning from this unit. Second, I will assess their abilities to spend time wisely on the assignments (meaning that, even if they were done at home, the work is organized and detailed and clearly tells me that they have spent time on it).